By David Futrelle
If anyone thinks the Mike Pence rule of never being alone with a woman lest something naughty happen isn’t discriminatory against women, consider the case of Mississippi Today reporter Larrison Campbell, who learned earlier this week that she wouldn’t be allowed to “ride along” with GOP gubernatorial wannabe Robert Foster on a 15-hour campaign trip because people might think that the two were “riding” each other, wink wink nudge nudge, knowwhatImean?
Because obviously every time a woman is alone in the presence of a man, sex breaks out.
“In two phone calls this week,” Campbell wrote in a story yesterday,
Colton Robinson, Foster’s campaign director, said a male colleague would need to accompany this reporter on an upcoming 15-hour campaign trip because they believed the optics of the candidate with a woman, even a working reporter, could be used in a smear campaign to insinuate an extramarital affair.
“The only reason you think that people will think I’m having a (improper) relationship with your candidate is because I am a woman,” this reporter said.
Robinson said the campaign simply “can’t risk it.”
I don’t even know what gender Colton Robinson is, but frankly they sound HOT. Are we sure Foster isn’t having sex with them right now?
Anyway, in a Tweet today, Foster said he was just following in the footsteps of Billy Graham, which really aren’t great footsteps for anyone to be following in but never mind. He also sort of suggested he might find it impossible to resist sex with Campbell and/or any other female person who wandered close to him unaccompanied by a man or men.
Clearly they aren’t thinking this through. If Campbell rode along with a male colleague in tow, wouldn’t people assume they were having an MMF threesome? I know I would.
Wait a minute, are there other men and women on this campaign bus or whatever it is that Foster is using to get around? DUDE IS TOTALLY HAVING ORGIES!!!1! ALLEGEDLY!1!
Still, in the odd moments when he is not having sex with ladies in his immediate presence (allegedly), Foster has found time to be mad online about the coverage of his not-sex-having policy with regard to Ms. Campbell.
I’ll give him credit for one thing: he can spell Mississippi correctly, despite all the sex thoughts about lady reporters and other nearby women he apparently has bouncing around in his head all day long.
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To be fair, you probably don’t want to be alone around these people, as a woman. It’s the “Donald Trump” rule.
How horny is this guy if he can’t resist having sex with any women around?
If so, it’s only because all too many men won’t respect women’s boundaries. 🙁
My late father was a pastor, and in the course of his pastoral duties he was often alone with a woman. ‘Cos, y’know, that’s how clerical privilege works. I am firmly convinced that he never committed adultery. Maybe I’m blinded by a daughter’s love, but I would need real proof to believe otherwise.
Likewise, my family doctor is often alone in a room with me. Gasp, sometimes the door is even closed. We’re both happily married to other people. He has never violated professional standards with me. (Yes, he has a female nurse in to chaperone/assist in a well woman exam. That’s usual and standard practice.) I’ve never broken my wedding vows. It’s called having self-control.
Once again, the GOP’s attitude towards women is reactionary and condescending AF.
Also, I love how the Washington Post is apparently a liberal mouthpiece for pointing out that his Saudi-style policy on being alone with women is discriminatory – and creepy, though the Post didn’t say that. It’s like admitting that they just might not be able to help themselves when it comes to sexual harassment or worse.
I always wonder if increasing the barriers to women in the workforce is the [i]point[/i] of these sorts of rules, or just a happy side effect.
Also, rather than calling this the Billy Graham Rule, I suggest we call it the My Inner Life Pee Bonding Rule. (Visuals SFW, audio SFW at the time I linked, but NSFW earlier in the video [and possibly later in the video too]).
https://youtu.be/hFqMIl597MI?t=374
If he doesn’t want to be alone with a woman besides his wife, fine. But that makes him unfit to serve in elected office. This rule would also make him unable to work with female staffers, female legislators or female constituents.
But all those cishet women who were fine with anti LGBTQ discrimination based on a “conscience clause” had better sit up and take notice. It will not be long for employers start using this as a way to get around laws prohibiting gender discrimination. The far right never, ever just comes for one group and leaves the rest alone. Politicians are absolutely floating this Graham rule as a trial balloon.
ETA: Ninja’d by Button!
Ok, how to put this: What a husk of a relationship with his wife does this guy have, if they don’t trust each other or themselves to spend time with another human being alone?
Of course, as I’m pansexual I can’t be alone with anyone ever. And as I’m poly, I can’t be with groups of people either. It’s a choice between being alone or having orgies. I’m exhausted to be honest /s
Sigh. I apologize for my state. I wish I could say we’re better than this, but way too many people here support this type of nonsense.
I really don’t understand this mentality. Treat women like human beings, keep your hands to yourself, and keep your conversation professional. No problem. What’s so difficult about that?
These guys really make the idea of jumping off a bride really appealing to me.
“Christian beliefs”. That’s pretty damn insulting to Christians, Mr Foster.
@Lainy
And then you land on the groom?
@WWTH:
Excellent point. It ought to be pretty much disqualifying. Chances that anyone in the media presses him on this point? Low, I’d guess.
@Lukas
I swear to god this phone is trying to ruin my life with it’s fucking auto correct.
@Mexican Hot Chocolate
Apparently extremely hard for conservative men.
@Button:
For Billy Graham himself, it was almost certainly a side effect. Of course, Graham ran his own church, he wasn’t running for office, so he’d pretty much only be working with people who were already part of the higher echelons of the church anyway. Since women would never be allowed into the higher echelons of the church, it wasn’t much of a hardship.
For people like Pence or Foster, or for that matter for Franklin Graham, it is absolutely the point. They don’t believe women should be treated as people in the first place.
This bullshit will – already has been – used as a way to discriminate against women.
I work in a fairly male-dominated organization. I’m not complaining, understand. Anyway, for awhile I had a boss who seemed reluctant to give much responsibility to me, or to the one other woman in my department. He didn’t even talk to us very much.
One of my co-workers came up to me once and said to me in a low voice, “He’s afraid of you, you know. And Kim, too.”
It took me a few seconds to realize what he meant.
Then he smiled, shrugged, and said, “Hey, you guys bleed the same color as we do.”
@Jackson Ayres
Not to pick on you, specifically, Jackson, as I read this same sentiment about half a dozen times in the Twitter replies before reading your reply and I already wanted to say something about this.
This is like when a baker refuses a wedding cake for a gay couple, and people respond, “why would you want to give your hard-earned dollars to a bigot?” Or “just find another bakery!”
Look, I don’t want to be discriminated against AT ALL. This kind of sentiment turns this disgusting discrimination against me for my gender and makes it my fault for wanting the same opportunities as men get. Do I want to network with an asshole who can’t keep his hands to himself or one who thinks I’ll falsely accuse him of sexual harassment or assault? Hell no. But that should be MY choice, and if I want to make the choice to network with disgusting people to further my career, I should be able to do that. Men aren’t asked why THEY want to network with these same disgusting assholes. If they’re decent human beings it shouldn’t matter that this asshole doesn’t discriminate against them, personally, should it?
@kupo
^^^^^^ this ❤
Why are conservatives so invested in the belief that everyone is terrible?
“All politicians are liars”
“All men will harass or molest any woman around them or cheat on their wives”
“All poor people are lazy”
“Everyone is a bigot”
Is it all projection? Some messed up form of defense (“I’m at least honest about x”)?
I truly don’t get it
As I remarked on this issue elsewhere:
I suppose I do have a sort of intrinsic personal objection to such views, in that I think most of these “scruples” are ultimately just misogynistic bullshit in one form or another. But people are entitled to their bullshit opinions: what they’re not entitled to do is use their opinions as an excuse for bigoted discrimination.
@Skye
I’m pretty sure it is projection, in the same way that calling liberals “snowflakes” is projection.
@Naglfar:
He’s very horny. And he’s setting the record wayyy too straight. He’s planning to have teh buttsecks but not with a woman(like his wife). I sincerely hope his wife gets some sex on the side while he’s away on the campaign trail.